Sadly this first colour season remains the
one least represented in the BBC’s film and videotape library, with only a
single extant complete entry.

Alongside the extensive material from
The Little Black Bag, clips also exist from three other productions,
including three separate scenes from Liar!

Audio fragments exist from each production
from this season.

NB. The BBC’s INFAX catalogue listing
denotes unspecified entries for Immortality Inc., Beach Head
and The Naked Sun. Although the first of these may relate to the
single clip that survives from Immortality Inc., at the time of
writing it is not known whether these are references to other off-air
soundtrack recordings or are simply errors resulting from the early
catalogue entries not being updated.

IMMORTALITY INC.

TX.
7th January 1969

A single clip (b/w TR) and four audio
extracts are known to exist from this production

Story Context: In the year 2110, a group of
technicians at the ‘Rex Industries’ corporation are busy orchestrating a
‘time transplant’ operation. Two of the corporation’s top scientists, Tom
Clarke (Derek Benfield) and Marie Thorne (Dahlia Penn) are supervising
this elaborate process, which involves deliberately engineering a car
crash on New Years Day 1969. At the moment of impact, they hope to snatch
the mind of it’s victim – a man named Mark Blaine (here played by Peter
Van Diesel) - and transport it forward in time to implant in a new ‘host
body’...

Summary of Audio Extracts

Extract 1: This first clip picks up the
action at a point just a few minutes into Scene 1. Tom and Marie are
intently watching a series of readings on instruments in the “Time
Transplant” room, which are tracking the movements of Blaine’s car along a
motorway on News Year Eve 1968. As the instruments focus in on the precise
date and location, Tom instructs the assembled technicians to keep the
delicate process stable. The action intercuts between sequences ( on
telecine ) of Mark in his car at night and the studio sequences of the
technicians at work. When Marie queries the darkness of the picture
presented by the instruments monitors, Tom reminds her that they “are
coming in at night”.

There is a short break in the clip here,
with the action resuming at the point where Blaine is listening to some
New Year celebrations (a crowd singing Old Langs Syne) on his car
radio. He switches this off, and we resume with the flurry of activity at
Rex Industries. Marie asks how long they will have to operate after the
crash, and admits to feeling “almost sorry” for Blaine. Tom clinically
replies that they’re not really killing him anyway, keeping his eyes on
the instruments as the two cars to be involved in the accident bear down
on each other…

Tyres screeching as he loses control of his
car, Blaine wrestles with the wheel as he sees the oncoming car
headlights. Watching the proceedings, Tom’s voice rises excitedly,
concerned that Blaine appears to have got the car under control again:
“it’s not working – boost the laser!”

Seconds later however, there is a
tremendous impact, and the screen on the technician’s instruments goes
blank.

There is another short break in the clip at
this point (a few seconds in duration), as the hushed technicians are
assembled around a panel of lights. The action resumes as the lights on
the panel begin flashing one by one, indicating the success of the
operation. The assembled crowd cheers loudly. Tom says: “We pulled him
over!”

All attention now goes to a covered body
emerging from a recess in one of the walls of the room. This is the body
into which the mind of Blaine – now played by Charles Tingwell – has been
‘transplanted’.

Duration: 1'40"

Extract 2: A section from Scene 2, in which
Blaine (Charles Tingwell) awakes to find himself in his new body, laying
prone on a trolley in the transplant operation room. In attendance are
Clarke and Dr Cole (Robert Macleod).

Cole is excitedly remarking on how
everything is functioning perfectly. Clarke asks Blaine how he is feeling
and whether he remembers the ‘accident’. Blaine is puzzled, but recalls
how the steering wheel broke and penetrated his chest.

On Clarke’s prompt, Blaine looks down at
his chest – feeling it first for a wound and then more intensely for
recognition. “But it’s not mine” he exclaims. Clarke hands him a small
mirror, explaining how only his body ‘died’ in the crash, and how a time
transplant operation had been utilised to pull his mind over. “You’ll get
used to the body” he adds glibly.

Blaine simply stares at him, then begins
laughing incredulously…

Duration: 1'00"

Extract 3: A sequence from Scene 3, in
which Blaine has been introduced by Marie to a man called Reilly (Peter
Swanwick), the elderly head of Rex Industries. Reilly is about to be
‘reincarnated’ into the younger body of a selected ‘Host’ (played by
Donald Morley), and Marie suggests to Blaine that they watch the process.

The clip begins with the various
Radiophonic / electronic music treatments that accompanies the
‘Reincarnation’ process. Dr Cole notes that although Reilly’s body and
that of the Host have gone limp, there is as yet no sign of emerging
animation in the latter. Marie explains to Blaine that Reilly’s mind is
trying to take possession of the body, but clearly he “seems to be having
a little trouble”.

The assembled technicians are beginning to
panic; more adjustments to the apparatus are hurriedly made. Dr Cole
orders the technicians to “lower the boost” and the strange electronic
whining of the instruments slowly gives way to an audible heartbeat.

An oxygen mask is applied quickly to the
face of the ‘host body’ and the sound of breathing becomes more pronounced
and regular. When the mask is removed however, the assembled crowd is
shocked to see that the face is deathly pale. Opening it’s eyes, the
figure says slowly and menacingly: “My name is not Reilly”.

The technicians realize with horror that
the body has gone ‘Reject’, meaning that another wandering spirit – a
disembodied presence looking for a physical host - has entered the body
before Reilly could complete the process. The Reject stands stiffly, it’s
movements ill coordinated. Slowly it looks around the ring of faces and
pauses on Blaine. “I know you” it says…

Duration: 2'10"

Extract 4: A sequence from Scene 10,
towards the end of the play. The ‘Reject’ has tracked down Blaine to his
South Seas hideaway, where he has been forced to flee because of the
growing political in-fighting between Rex Industries and the Government.
The Reject has at last discovered it’s original identity – ‘he’ is James
Robinson, the man who was killed when Blaine crashed his car into that of
another in 1969. Robinson’s mind had also been pulled over into the
22nd-Century, but unlike Blaine had been forced to wander in limbo until
the opportunity arose to inhabit Reilly’s host body. This temporary body
is slowly dying however…
The extract begins at the point where Blaine is reiterating that he does
not know who the Reject is, despite the latter’s insistence that they’ve
met before. The Reject, his voice now virtually a whisper, explains :
“late one night…1969…motorway…. you in your car, me in mine…”

Marie is distressed by the Reject’s
appearance - she had known all along about James having been tragically
caught up in the time transplant process, but wanted to keep this
knowledge hidden from Blaine. “I’m not ready for the Hereafter yet, I
haven’t had a chance here on Earth…” says James pitiably.

Blaine realises there is something more
involved. He slowly recollects the crash - a flashback sequence in which
one specific detail becomes clear: the fact that for a split second he had
regained control of the car, but had still willed the crash to happen – a
death wish, prompting him to lust for the moment of impact: “I let the car
plunge on and I took you with me…”, reflects Blaine.

The revelation engenders a complex moral
dilemma for him, prompting Blaine to give up his new body for James to
inhabit in turn

Duration: 2'00"

Extract 5

A brief extract from Scene 12, set inside a
“Suicide Booth” which Blaine and the Reject have entered to consolidate
their pact – both will ‘die’ here, but James will be resurrected in
Blaine’s healthy body.

The extract picks up the action as Blaine
and the Reject sit in adjacent chairs, listening to the voice of the
Booth’s Clerk as she gives instructions: “Place both your hands on the
lever in front of your chair. At the sound of the first chime pull your
lever firmly towards you. Do not hesitate or release your grip until you
hear the second chime”.

“Good bye” says Blaine. The first chime
sounds and the lever is pulled ; as the second chime is heard, he releases
his grip…

Duration: 40"

Surviving Telerecorded Material

This comprises a brief truncated shot of a
sword being plunged into a man’s stomach, over which the sound of the
victim’s groaning can be heard. This is almost certainly an excised shot
from a lengthy film sequence in the middle of the play, involving Blaine
and a group of fellow ‘Hunters’ tracking down a man called Hull (Peter
Copley). Hull is a wealthy aristocrat who has bought the services of these
‘professional’ hunters in order to provide himself with a “glorious death”
; their task is to pursue him across his woodland estate and kill him,
although Hull aims to dispatch as many of them as possible ( armed with a
rapier ) before he meets his own end.

The shot was discovered amongst the batch
of excised BBC material held by the Australian Censorship board.
Ironically, this was the same section of the play singled out by The
Daily Telegraph critic as being a “particularly gruesome sequence”.

(b/w 16TR)

Duration: 5"

Surviving Music and Effects tracks

1. A complete collection of all music
(electronic treatments) and effects tracks used in this production also
exist in a private collection. This includes the numerous sound effects
for the Time Transplant experiment, the Reincarnation sequence, and number
of miscellaneous pieces of taped dialogue ( including ‘Robot’ voices and
announcements ).

Duration: 9’03”

2. The recording archive of composer
Tristram Cary also includes a complete collection of the original
incidental music tracks (15ips full track mono). Some of this material
duplicates the effects tape noted above. Cary noted that he had “used a
small ensemble in which the low end consists of bass guitar rather than a
cello or bass, a versatile instrument with a very original sound. In
general the instrumental sections seem to be fairly friendly sounds, but
certain sections were designed for electronic treatment and the results of
these are a bit more horrific”.

Duration: 15’31”

CLIP 1

CLIP 2

CLIP 3

LIAR!

TX. 14th January 1969

Three clips (b/w 16TR) and two
extended audio extracts exist from this production

Context: At the factory plant of ‘United
Robots’, a new series of humanoid robots is fresh off the production line.
To counter a series of scathing press articles on the perceived “robot
menace” however, Director Alfred Lanning (Hamilton Dyce) has invited
skeptical journalist Milton Brooke (Robert James) to visit the plant to
reassure him that his accusations are unfounded. To this end, he wishes to
demonstrate the most recent robot off the production line – RB-34,
otherwise known as ‘Herbie”. With Brooke arriving for the demonstration,
Lanning sends production manager Milton Ashe (Paul Chapman) down to the
factory floor to collect Herbie. Once activated however, Ashe discovers to
his horror that RB-34 has the remarkable but unnerving capacity to read
the minds of it’s human creators...

Summary of Audio Extracts

Extract 1:

This first extract, covering parts of
scenes 7 and 8, overlaps with the end of the second of the surviving video
clips (see section below)

Having been activated, Herbie’s
telepathic capacity registers the anxiety in Ashe’s mind, particularly his
fear lest someone else discovers this and begins a general panic. “If
you’re afraid of anyone else discovering me, why not lock me up?” suggests
Herbie, indicating a cleaners cupboard on the factory floor. Ashe silently
complies, and once Herbie is safely inside he locks the door and hurries
back to join Lanning’s group.

A short break in the clip here,
within which Herbie picks up one of the cleaner’s tacky romantic story
magazines that it finds within the cupboard. The clip resumes with Herbie
beginning to read aloud from the magazine: “I’ll never forget the day I
told my husband I was in love with another man. For a while he stood
silent, pale under his tan, staring at me. ‘You Elsie?’, he gasped. ‘You
and Arthur?”

Elsewhere, Lanning is handing out
sherries to his assembled team and a very nervous Brooke, who is feigning
impatience at the delay in the demonstration (to cover his anxiety about
meeting a robot face to face). Lanning tells him that the robot should be
arriving with Ashe at any moment now, while Brooke curtly states that he
still has other appointments to attend to.

A further short break in the clip at
this point, omitting a few lines of dialogue, before picking up again with
Brooke sarcastically suggesting that the delay is due to a “last minute
hitch”. Lanning confidently replies that this is impossible, just as a
very flustered Ashe enters the room and bumbles a very unconvincing
explanation about a “last minute hitch”...

A longer section is missing after
this piece of dialogue. The missing section covers the heated exchange
between Lanning and Brooke, for the latter has detected a crude and hasty
‘cover up’ at work and angrily leaves the room. The clip then picks up the
action at the very end of the scene, where Ashe explains his cover-up by
telling them of his discovery that Herbie can read minds. Lanning decides
they should all go see Herbie for themselves: “You’d better come with me.
All of you”.

Duration: 1'15"

Extract 2:

A longer section covering the
denouement of the play, with material from scenes 48 through to 51.

Herbie is confronted by Robo-Psychologist
Susan Calvin (Wendy Gifford), who has discovered what the robot is up to.
She tells the assembled group how the First Law of Robotics compels Herbie
to tell people what they really want to hear, even if this means lying (
since it cannot hurt a human in any manner, including hurting their
feelings ). Pursuing this line of logic, she then gives Herbie an
‘impossible’ order, instructing the robot that it must tell Lanning and
the others of it’s knowledge of the technical error that resulted in the
gift of telepathy.

However, obeying this order implies
the possibility of a human being hurt, since the robot is aware that both
Lanning and the company’s resident mathematician Dr Bogert (Gerald Sim)
have been fruitlessly trying to fathom the solution for themselves. Herbie
knows that both men cannot stand the thought that a mere robot holds the
solution which their ‘superior’ human intellects find insoluble. As a
result, Herbie suffers the robotic equivalent of a nervous breakdown,
caught between his need to obey a human order, and the law that that says
he must not harm a human. Herbie begins repeating the order to itself,
which quickly takes on a frenzied note: “I must, I mustn’t, I must, I
mustn’t, I must, I mustn’t...” Turning suddenly, he crashes through the
door...

This continues into the following
telecine sequence, in which Herbie plunges haphazardly down a corridor
through swing doors, still repeating it’s illogical order to itself.

The assembled group hear a crashing
sound, and exit the room.

A short break in the clip at this
point, as the group halt by the top of the stairwell that Herbie has
fallen from, looking down disconsolately at what is now a wrecked heap of
machinery. The clip resumes as Bogert says lamentably (over a telecine
shot of Herbie’s wrecked remains): “now we’ll never know” [i.e.: the
origin of the robot’s telepathic ability].

Lanning turns to Brooke and asks him
whether what he has just witnessed satisfies him as to the robot’s inbuilt
‘safety factor’. A trembling Brooke admits he is satisfied and Lanning
suggests they all return to his office for a drink.

Duration: 2'50"

Surviving Telerecorded Material

Three clips were originally used in
the BBC documentary series Towards Tomorrow, in an edition entitled
2001:An Earth Prophecy (TX. BBC 1, 25th March 1969). This still
exists as a complete b/w film recording in the BBC archives. As the title
indicates, this edition speculated on scientific and social advances
thirty years into the future (ironically the Out of the Unknown
adaptation of Liar! was also specified as being set at this date),
and included extensive interview footage of Isaac Asimov.

Subsequent BBC productions have
recycled two of these three clips, although in truncated form. These have
included BBC-2’s The Late Show on at least two known occasions -
firstly a feature on developments in robotics, and later within a 1992
obituary feature on the work of Isaac Asimov. On each occasion, fragments
of these clips were shown alongside archive interview footage of Asimov,
mainly from the author’s appearances on the 28/7/65 edition of Horizon
and the aforementioned Robot edition of Towards Tomorrow (TX.
28/12/67).

Different sections of these clips
then surfaced in the 1997 Future Fantastic documentary series, in
an edition entitled I Robot . A brief shot of Olgilvy’s robot being
‘activated’ also appeared in the 23/1/04 edition of the BBC series
Inventions that Changed the World. Longer, and for the most part
complete, versions of all three clips, probably their first extended
outing since their 1969 re-use, were recently presented in the BBC-2
documentary Sunday Past Times (TX.11/9/05).

The most curious re-use of these surviving
segments is the now well-known shot of a robot head being constructed (
the head divided into hinged ‘halves’ which are closed around it’s
‘positronic brain’ ) which has been regularly used as part of the title
sequence of the American sit-com Malcolm in the Middle.

Clip 1:

A clip from the play’s first scene,
showing the robot factory ‘production line’ in operation. This begins with
the opening shot of the play, a wide tracking shot of the factory floor,
over which the story title and author credit is superimposed. The last few
seconds of this shot, which includes the dramatist credit (‘Dramatised by
David Campton’) are missing. This continues with a shot of the factory
workers manipulating the skeletal framework of a robot arm, whilst in the
background we see Lanning, Susan Calvin, Ashe and Bogert assembling to
witness the activation of RB-1, their first completed robot. As originally
broadcast, this sequence then cuts to the aforementioned shot of the
robot’s head section being snapped together.

This section of the clip also appears
to be missing the three following shots: a wide shot of Olgilvy as RB-1
being activated and rising from the test bench; the assembled crowd
cheering at their success; and a close-up of the first Daily News
headline: “Robot Activated”

The 11/9/05 edition of Sunday Past
Times however, did screen the next section of consecutive shots (all
overlaid with the original accompanying stock music). These are: Olgilvy
as RB-2 rising from the test bench; a second newspaper headline warning of
“The Robot Menace”; Olgilvy as the newly activated ‘RB-15’ rising into
close-up; and a third alarmist headline announcing: “Robots - What is the
Government Doing?”

Duration: 32"

Clip 2:

An extended sequence from scene 7.
This begins with a long shot of Ashe supervising the activation of RB-34
or ‘Herbie’ ; as the robot stands, Ashe orders it to follow him. The
camera tracks back as the two characters begin walking into close-up, then
stays on the robot as it comes to an abrupt halt. Ashe returns impatiently
and reiterates his order to the robot to follow him. The subsequent
exchange establishes Herbie’s telepathic ability, including Herbie picking
up on Ashe’s thoughts of Brooke as “a self-important ass” who deserves to
be frightened “out of his boots”.

The robot becomes acutely aware that
it’s act of mind reading is disturbing Ashe. Because it also senses Ashe’s
anxiety about it’s telepathic nature being discovered by others, Herbie
suggests that it is locked up out of sight in a nearby cleaner’s
cupboard.. “In there” suggests Herbie, walking into the cupboard - Ashe
then gratefully locks the door and moves away.

This begins mid-way through a shot of
Bogert and Calvin, the latter stating that the group is not going to solve
this problem by attributing blame on each other for an apparent fault in
the production process.

Lanning concurs with this, and rising
from his seat, summarises the issues as follows: “Let’s consider the
situation. We have produced a positronic brain of supposedly ordinary
vintage that has the remarkable property of being able to tune in on
thought waves”.

Ashe asks what’s wrong with this
issue. “Nothing”, Lanning continues, since in itself the fact marks “the
most important advance in robotics for years”.

“If only we knew how it happened”, he
adds thoughtfully.

Duration: 28"

BEACH HEAD

TX.28th January 1969

One audio extract is currently known to
exist from this production.

Story Context: On a remote and uncharted
planet, Commandant Decker (Edward Bishop) attempts to communicate with one
of the ‘humanoid’ natives that his survey team has just captured. The
alien has been brought into a small domed pavilion adjacent to the team’s
spacecraft, where Decker’s team has set up a ‘mentagraph’ – two linked
headsets with an output cable leading to a small screen ( which translates
thought patterns into visible symbols )...

Extract 1

With Decker and the humanoid having donned
their headsets, the clip begins at the point where Decker states the
friendly and non-hostile nature of his team: “We will not harm you, we
will not harm you...”

The alien’s unspoken reply is swift and
alarming, with the scrambled symbols on the monitor screen resolving
themselves into the words: “You will never leave” [this planet].

Decker hurriedly persists, stating that
they wish to be friends, offering their help and the promise of gifts.

Again the translated reply on the monitor
screen is repeated. Waldron (Vernon Dobtcheff), one of the team’s
scientific advisors, suggests that Decker should “try to humour him”. In
the face of the humanoids implacable and enigmatic resistance, Decker is
beginning to panic. He hurriedly insists that: “we will stay, we will
stay, we will teach you many good things...”

Duration: 32"

SOMETHING IN THE CELLAR

TX. 4th February 1969

Story
Context: In the cellar of his rambling Victorian edifice of a home,
Professor Monty Lafcado (Milo O’Shea) has been tirelessly building and
perfecting a complex computer capable of translating any language, aided
by his loyal assistant Fred (Murray Melvin). Unknown to Lafcado, the
computer quickly begins to develop it’s own distinct personality -
ultimately revealed to be that of Monty’s possessive mother, who had died
several years earlier...

Extract 1: From Scene 2, in which Monty and
Fred are first seen experimenting with various settings on the computer
lash-up in the cellar. The computer’s ‘output’ speaker emits a curious
string of words whilst shooting into the female register: “History,
Goldfish, every rough potato” and then disintegrates into a rapid
cacophony of sounds. Fred throws a switch to turn the speaker off, saying
laconically: “she’s flipped again”.

Monty ponders on this, wringing his hands:
“oh dear, it does that – and that curious frequency jump...”

Duration : 26"

Extract 2: From Scene 4, in which Monty is
taking an afternoon nap in a ‘fleapit’ cinema which is screening a B-Grade
horror movie. It is here that he meets a woman called Bettina (June
Ellis), who strikes up a conversation with Monty as he wakes towards the
climax of the film.

The extract begins at the point where
Bettina is pointing out how the hero of the film is about to rescue a lady
threatened by a “seaweed” monster (played by John Lawrence, in a sequence
specially shot on 35mm film for the play). Monty asks how she knows the
story so well, and Bettina admits to having sat through the same film at
the “Majestic” the previous week. The film draws to a close and the finale
music begins. Bettina begins to gather her bags and rise...

Duration: 27"

Extract 3: From Scene 8, in which the
computer is systematically enunciating (in a monotone “Dalek-like” voice )
a series of words beginning with the letter ‘b’: “bissextile, bisulcate,
bisulphate...”

Fred turns to Monty ( who is working out
calculations on a blackboard ) and says: “Hungry ol’ cow – she started on
‘er A’s yesterday and now she’s halfway through B”.

Monty is immersed in his calculations: “I
think I’ve found a reason for those curious frequency jumps Fred”.

Duration: 25"

Extract 4: Scene 10. In the evening, Monty
is working alone in the cellar when Bettina, now employed as his
housekeeper, comes in with something for him to eat. She asks about the
various pieces of equipment and the strange enunciations of the machine.

Monty attempts to explain to her how the
machine works. Feeling ill at ease, Bettina remarks that it sounds like
the computer has “swallowed a dictionary”. Continuing to demonstrate,
Monty switches the computer to ‘print-out’ only, silencing the unnerving
mechanical voice.

Duration: 45"

Extract 5: From Scene 13, in which Fred
inspects a part of the computer termed the “D-Circuit”, which he believes
is the source of the various technical glitches. As the machine continues
to coldly articulate a string of words, the electronic voice suddenly
begins to rise in pitch and intensity. “You’re excited today you old cow”,
says Fred, looking at the frenzied patterns displayed on the computer’s
monitor screens. He looks narrowly at a complicated piece of the system:
“I bet it’s that D Circuit”...

Duration: 40"

Extract 6: From Scene 17. The computer has
now reached words beginning with ‘S’ and while it quietly drones on in the
background, Monty and Fred continue to make fine adjustments to the
console. As Monty speculates on a possible fault with the machine’s
“modulator”, Fred indicates that the professor has just received two
letters from his financial benefactors I.C.M.

Duration: 32"

Extract 7: From Scene 23, in which Fred
attempts to tamper with the system’s D-Circuit. With the computer
relentlessly ‘Daleking’ away to itself, Fred removes the panels of the
cabinet containing the circuit and begins making adjustments. Suddenly the
voice rises in pitch again and there is a sudden flash and spit of
electrical arcing. Fred screams in agony – as he pulls out his hands from
the interior of the cabinet, he sees that the screwdriver he has been
using has penetrated his wrist. He grabs this and pulls it out, doubling
with pain and shock. The machine’s electronic screaming rises unchecked.

This cuts to a telecine shot of the
exterior of Monty’s house. The script indicates this as follows: “A FULL
SHOT of the house. FLAT ON. It screams exultantly”.

Duration: 1'05"

Extract 8: From Scene 27. With Fred in
hospital, Monty works alone in the cellar. He has just screwed in the last
of the bolts replacing the D Circuit panel and is listening to some
curious sentences ( once more spoken in a distinct female register )
emanating from the computer’s speaker. Monty checks the machine’s ‘Reading
Element’ and realises these sentences bear no relation to the text that
has been inputted to the computer.

Duration: 45"

Extract 9: From Scene 37, in which Monty
attempts to show ICM representative Harold Pugh ( Clive Morton ) how the
computer responds to certain key words relating to sexuality. Monty shouts
these into a microphone on the console, then tears off the computer’s
printed out response and shows it to Pugh. Bizarrely, it relates to mating
patterns, jealousy and love...

Duration: 30"

Extract 10: From Scene 56 through to 60.
Acting through the computer, Monty’s mother cruelly deals with Bettina by
discharging a huge burst of electrical energy through the house, killing
her instantly when she touches a metal contact in the bathroom (this
sequence would have shown Bettina backing away from the apparition of
Monty’s dead mother in a wardrobe, then stumbling into the adjacent
bathroom where she clutches at a tap to steady herself).

Duration: 25"

Extract 11: From Scene 68 through to 69.
Monty now realizes that the personality of his dead mother inhabits the
computer. His mother’s distorted voice is heard through the speakers:
“Mother’s boy – dear old boy, didn’t you guess…”

Monty attempts to switch the console off,
but each time he reaches out there is a flash of electrical discharge. The
voice calls out sternly: “Mustn’t touch, ..naughty…Mum will be angry...”

Monty rushes to the main switches near the
cellar stairs, but again there is a sudden electrical flash. He rushes up
the stairs...

“And don’t run away. I want to talk to you.
It’s your mother...”

Attempting to flee the computer’s
influence, Monty leaves the cellar and runs into the hallway of the house
and quickly ascends the stairs. The distorted, echoing voice of his mother
can still be heard in the distance: “come back... come back... come
back...”

Duration: 1'40"

Extract 12: From Scene 72. Coaxed back by
the hypnotic sound of his mother’s voice, Monty returns to the cellar. The
soothing voice intones: “dear old boy, mother’s boy, mum’s been lonesome
on her own-some, mum wants to talk, nice and cosy on our own-some, just
the two of us...”

At this point, Fred and Pugh return to the
house and discover Monty lying in a foetal position in the middle of the
computer apparatus. The monitors are displaying (in rapid succession)
images of his mother’s face, with the echoing voice repeating: “just the
two of us, for ever... and ever... and ever... and ever...” [this scene
would have then led into the closing credits]

Duration: 1'00"

RANDOM
QUEST

TX. 11th
February 1969

A single clip ( b/w T/R ) and two audio
excerpts currently exist from this production.

Story
Context: Scientist Colin Trafford (Keith Barron) attends a routine
laboratory demonstration at British-Physical Industries. The demonstration
goes wrong however, and the resultant explosion knocks him unconscious.
When he wakes, he finds himself inexplicably sprawled at the bottom of a
stairway in a Gentlemen's Club. Bewildered by his new surroundings and
personal appearance, he eventually realises that he has been transported
to a parallel world, where his ‘counterpart’ has been living a quite
different life...

Summary of Audio Extracts

Extract 1: This first extract bridges the
telecine sequence of the laboratory explosion (a blinding flash, with
Colin staggering to the camera and falling slowly out of frame) and the
opening shot of Scene 2 – an out of focus shot of the club’s Hall Porter
(Arnold Ridley) anxiously looking down on Colin and asking repeatedly:
“You all right Sir?”

Colin awakes with a start and looks around
in astonishment. The Hall Porter, oblivious to Colin’s confusion,
continues with his polite fussing: “You must have tripped on the stairs,
sir. No bones broken, I hope?”

Colin asks whether he really is here in the
club, perplexed that he cannot account for the sudden unexplained change
of location. Nor does he recognise the face before him: “What am I doing
here…. who are you?”

“Munnings, Sir”, the Porter replies
genially, “You know me...”

Duration: 30"

Extract 2: A short section from Scene 8, in
which Colin enters the luxurious flat of his alternate world counterpart,
which he explores with intense curiosity. Having idly switched on a 1930’s
type television set, the picture flickers into life and shows a news
broadcast (read by MacDonald Hobley). The clip begins at the point where
the newsreader is giving a summary of various ‘contemporary’ world events:

“...many eminent scientists throughout the
world were concerned over the latest German experiments, and while there
was little doubt that nuclear fission was still a theoretical possibility,
the proposed methods of control were totally inadequate (changes sheet).
The King’s State visit to Lichtenstein...”

Colin switches the set off and ruminates
reflectively: ‘So the random neutron is still at large...” He shakes his
head in wonder and goes on to explore the next room.

Duration: 21"

Surviving Clip:

The surviving clip derives from a telecine
sequence (shot at Ealing) which shows Colin pursuing a woman called
Ottilie (Tracy Reed) down a flight of stairs outside their apartment. She
trips on the stairwell and then tumbles down to the bottom (with
stuntwoman Roberta Gibbs standing in for Tracy Reed). Trafford rushes to
her aid, repeatedly calling her name...

Duration: 6"

The clip derives from a 1970 edition of
Nationwide (TX. 22/10/70) and was shown as part of an interview with
Roberta Gibbs (NB. although the filmed interview with Gibbs exists on the
original colour film, the Out of the Unknown clip derives from a
b/w VT copy). The clip was traced by archivist Andrew Martin in September
2005, following a lead from BBC engineer James Insell.

THE NAKED SUN

TX. 18th February 1969

Five audio extracts currently exist from
this production.

Story
Context: The year is 22O2. Sent to investigate a murder on the planet
Solaria, Earth Detective Elijah Baley (Paul Maxwell) is determined to
overcome his ingrained agoraphobia of outside spaces, having lived
virtually his entire life enclosed within the domed city of New York...

Extract 1: This first clip begins at the
close of Scene 3, which features Baley and his robot partner – R. Daneel
Olivaw (David Collings) – travelling in an enclosed windowless capsule to
their destination on Solaria. Fearing that his vulnerability to the open
air will seriously hinder his status with the Solarians, Baley has lowered
a panel which covers an observation window. This causes the light from the
‘naked sun’ to pour into the capsule, and a terrified Baley passes out.

The clip begins with the music that bridges
the transition between Baley losing consciousness and his awakening in a
Solarian apartment. Opening his eyes, he questions Daneel regarding his
new whereabouts. The robot replies that he is in a house specially built
for him. Baley is incredulous: “Built for me!”

Extract 2: From Scene 5, in which Baley
attempts to interview (via a monitor screen, as the Solarians shun
personal physical presence) Corwin Attlebish, the Deputy Head of Solarian
Security (Ronald Leigh Hunt). Attlebish curtly reminds Baley about the
taboo around physical contact and is sceptical about there being any real
‘mystery’ to the murder...

Duration : 12"

Extract 3: Also from Scene 5, in which
Baley makes contact with another eminent Solarian, the sociologist Anselmo
Quemot (John Robinson). The Control Robot operating the communication
system signifies that Quemot is available for ‘contact’. The sociologist
then becomes visible on a monitor screen, stating calmly that he was
expecting Baley’s call.

Duration : 12"

Extract 4: From the close of Scene 7.
During an interview with Hannis Gruer, Baley watches him drink from a
glass of water and collapse, gasping the words “burning” as he clutches
his throat. Baley quickly calls for assistance from Gruer’s robots. This
cuts to the subsequent scene in which he questions Gruer’s main household
robot, followed by the Solarian medical advisor Doctor Thool (Erik
Chitty). The elderly doctor advises that Gruer may not survive the
poisoning...

Duration : 38"

Extract 5: From Scene 16. In Baley’s
Solarian apartment, the detective receives a radio transmission from Earth
Under-Secretary Minnim (Sheila Burrell), who calls for his immediate
return to Earth. Baley is adamant that he wants to pursue his
investigation, and orders a robot to switch off the transmission. R.
Daneel Olivaw warns Baley: “You cannot defy the Under- Secretary”.

Duration : 22"

Extract 6: From Scene 17. In Baley’s
apartment, the Earth detective requests that all the suspects are brought
together in a ‘multi-view’ for questioning (with their holographic images
fused together in one space). Daneel initially misunderstands his request
and thinks Baley is calling for all the suspects to be physically present
in his apartment. Baley corrects him: “No, not see them. They’d regard
that as a twentieth century orgy.”

As Daneel leaves to make arrangements,
Baley also instructs his robot partner to make his way to the chief
suspect’s house. “You know what else I want you to do, Daneel.”

Duration: 37"

THE
LITTLE BLACK BAG

TX. 25th February 1969

Four audio extracts and a series of
videotape fragments (comprising consecutive scenes which make up for
approximately twenty-eight minutes of the play) currently exist from this
production.

The first three audio extracts cover
approximately two and a half minutes from scenes 3 - 5, the recovered
videotape material comprises scenes 9 – 23, and the last audio extract
features material from scenes 24 – 26 (the play’s denouement).

Story Context: A sophisticated Medical Kit
is advertently transported back in time from the far future into the
twentieth century, where it falls into the grateful hands of the disbarred
Dr Full (Emrys Jones) and a scheming woman named Angie Quiller (Geraldine
Moffatt). Although unable to retrieve the kit, its ‘supernormal’ creators
Mike (James Chase) and colleague Al (Harvey Hall) monitor the use of the
bag as its capabilities are ruthlessly exploited...

Extract 1: A segment from Scene 3, set in
the Medical Centre that forms the backdrop to the opening of the play. It
is here that ‘supernormal’ Mike, ostensibly working as a lab assistant to
the inept Dr Gillis (Robert Dean), has constructed a portable
time-machine. The clip begins as Mike is describing the operation of the
apparatus to a curious Gillis and his equally naive colleague Dr Hemingway
(Denis Bowen).

“Touch that switch, turn the dial, it’ll go
to wherever you want” concludes Mike casually. As Mike leaves, the two
doctors decide they might as well try out the apparatus. Gillis places
Hemingway’s Medical Bag inside the machine and then throws a switch. The
machine hums into life and the bag duly disappears. At first stupefied,
the doctors suddenly realise they have no idea how to reverse the
process...

Duration: 50"

Extract 2: A segment from Scene 4, in which
the panicking Hemingway goes to meet Al (at the Medical Centre’s ‘stores’)
in order to obtain a replacement bag.

Hemingway is furious with Mike and his
apparently useless time machine, stating that Mike is “not as bright as he
makes out”. Struggling to explain the process, he tries to describe how
the machine seems to work on a “one way only” basis. Al queries whether
Mike had explained “the recall mechanism”.

"I don’t think he included it in the
design”, Hemingway replies, and then switches the subject back to his
immediate predicament: “The point is, how am I going to manage without my
bag?”

“How indeed”, Al says breezily, “Well,
we’ll just have to get you another one”.

Duration: 30"

Extract 3: An extract covering most of
Scene 5, set inside ‘Bag Control’. After giving Hemingway a replacement
Medical Kit, Al retreats to a hidden control room to the rear of the
stores. It is here that he is joined by Mike, whom he berates for being
foolish enough to build the time machine and give it to Gillis (reminding
him that they should do nothing to alert their so-called superiors to
their own advanced intelligence).

Mike is astounded that the doctors were
foolish enough to put the medical bag in the time machine. Al then queries
where the bag might have ended up, but Mike is at a loss to pinpoint this.
While Al attempts to trace the kit, Mike asks whether they should ‘kill’
it, although both acknowledge that turning it off might produce a ‘social
loss’.

Al then alerts their superiors, known
simply as ‘Control’, to the loss of the bag. Control advise leaving the
kit’s instruments switched on, although any “deviations from normal” are
to be reported immediately. Mike breathes a sigh of relief at not being
asked how the bag ended up on another timescale...

Duration: 1'00"

Extract 4: The final extract features
material sadly missing from the recovered video sequence (which is missing
the last thirty seconds of the play). The following text outlines the
script for these closing moments, immediately following the point that the
recovered video sequence comes to a close (finishing after Mike’s line:
“That’s no reason to let them discipline me for disobeying orders”). The
sections surviving on audio are outlined in red:

Scene 23: Inside ‘Bag Control’

Al: “One murder, two murders. What’s the
difference?

Mike: For you? That’s no reason to let them
discipline me for disobeying orders.
How do I destroy the damn thing?

Al: “Try the kill button”

[Close-up of the ‘kill’ button on the
instrument desktop]

Scene 24. Inside Full’s Surgery

Mrs Coleman: “Let me see you do that with
your neck”

Angie: “All rightee!”

[Angie inserts the ‘surgical knife’ into
her neck (utilising the same sound effect used in an earlier scene in
which she demonstrates the knife on her forearm)]

Scene 25: Inside ‘Bag Control’

[Mike’s finger pressing button in Close-up]

The bleeping of the alarm at Bag Control
suddenly ceases as Mike hits the “kill’ button.

[After the close-up of Mrs Coleman, the
script indicates that there was to be a final shot of the Medical Bag in a
‘corroded’ state and possibly a close-up of Angie’s body on the floor of
the surgery]

Duration: 10"

1 + 1 =
1.5

TX. 4th March 1969

Three audio excerpts exist from this
production.

Story Context: The year is 2020, and
Britain is leading the world in the field of effective Population Control.
At the outset of the play, local Population Control Officer Henry Beldon
(Garfield Morgan) has been awarded a ministerial commendation for his
efforts in ensuring that his target population area abides by the computer
calculated average – 1.5 licensed children per married couple. However,
his pride soon turns to anxiety when he discovers that his wife Mary
(Julia Lockwood) is pregnant with a second and unlicensed child...

Extract 1: From Scene 1. Mary and Henry are
enjoying a relaxing weekend in their rural cottage retreat, along with
Henry’s close friend and colleague John Stewart (Bernard Horsfall). The
clip begins as they sit down in the cottage’s living room to watch a
television news interview regarding his recent Ministerial Commendation.

As Henry and Stewart switch on the TV
monitor, the station’s link-man announces: Now just before we bring you
Community Newsreel, here is a time check...

Stewart calls through to Mary, who is
gathering together coffee cups in the kitchen: “C’mon Mary – Henry’s
interview”.

The announcer continues: “Year 2020.
September 3rd. 1815, Precisely”. The jingle that heralds the beginning of
the news broadcast begins as Mary enters the room and sits alongside
Henry. The headlines begin: “A Ministerial Commendation, First Class, was
awarded today to Henry Beldon, Local Population Officer...”

Duration: 50"

Extract 2: From Scene 8, set in Stewart’s
office in the Department of Health, where he has called Henry in on a most
urgent matter. As his friend arrives, he switches on a monitor screen
which shows the white sheet of a computerised print-out. The clip begins
as the text on the screen is rapidly displayed– it is a diagnostic report
on Mary’s recent medical check-up. To everyone’s alarm, the print-out
concludes with: “General Conclusion: The subject is four months pregnant”.

An incidental music sting at this point, as
we cut back to the monitor screen which simply states: “Report required”.

Duration: 25"

Extract 3: From Scene 12B. Back in
Stewart’s office, Beldon consults the Central Computer at Westminster for
advice and a possible solution to his personal dilemma. Nervously, he
types his ‘hypothetical’ question: “Hypothesis. Mother of one, licensed,
gives birth to a second child, unlicensed. What action can husband effect
to maintain statistical status quo...”

The extract begins as Beldon and Stewart
watch as the printed reply appears on the screen, accompanied by the
computer’s impassive electronic voice:

“Alternative courses of action: One –
Emigrate to severely under-populated area. Suggest Greenland. Two –
divorce wife on grounds of criminal negligence. Three- arrange for child
to be adopted as laboratory observation specimen. Four- place child in
basket and float down river...”

Story
Context: Bio-chemist Harry Gerwyn (Bernard Hepton) receives an enigmatic
telephone call from the seemingly innocuous Peter Foster (Richard
Pearson), informing him that his wife will soon become ill. Investigating
the matter, Gerwyn visits Peter at his quiet suburban home, where he
appears to be living a life of placid retirement along with his sister
‘Joan’ (Freda Bamford). Gerwyn quickly comes to realise however, that he
is dealing with people who boast extraordinary scientific knowledge, as
well as a propensity to casually commit murder...

Extract 1: From the opening telecine
sequence, in which two youths - Geoff (Anton Darby) and his girlfriend
Anne (Pauline Cunningham) - investigate a seemingly abandoned hanger in a
disused airfield.

Finding a storeroom at the rear of the
hanger (complete with shelves of medical equipment, flasks and bottles),
they are covertly watched by the Fosters through a horizontal gap in a
partition at one end of the storeroom.

“I will kill the female” intones Joan to
her partner. Peter Foster acknowledges this in an “infinitely tired’ tone
of voice.

Anne looks around at the equipment and
says: “Probably some firm’s taken over the place.”

“Just what I was thinking”, agrees Geoff,
“I wonder what sort of racket they’re in then?” [this last line of
dialogue would have been heard over a shot of Peter Foster’s hand reaching
for a knife].

Duration: 11"

Extract 2: A brief extract from Scene 2,
set in the Gerwyn’s home, in which Harry receives his first telephone call
from Mr Foster.

The clip begins at the point where Foster
is flatly repeating his enigmatic message to Gerwyn: “Your wife may become
ill. Be ready for it”. The dialling tone purrs as Foster abruptly rings
off.

Gerwyn’s daughter Sally (Ann Penfold) asks
who the caller was. A puzzled Gerwyn repeats what he has heard, adding:
“But what the hell does that mean?”

Duration: 11"

Extract 3: A longer extract from Scene 3,
in which Harry’s wife Mary (Yvonne Manners) is surreptitiously drugged by
Joan Foster whilst travelling on a London Tube train.

The clip begins as the train alights at a
station; amongst the crowd which boards the train is Joan Foster, who
makes her way along the train and sits in a vacant seat next to Mary. As
the train starts up again, Joan unfolds a newspaper and pretends to read
this, although this is only a ploy to obscure her actions from the fellow
passengers.

Accompanied by Wilfred Joseph’s eerie
incidental music, the scene continues with Joan hypnotising Mary into
immobility and then scratching her hand with an odd looking implement
(introducing a chemical into Mary’s bloodstream which will send her into a
coma). Her work accomplished, Joan exits from the train at the next
station.

Extract 5: An excerpt from scene 7, in
which Harry visits the Fosters at their suburban home. Having explained
that they are responsible for his wife’s condition, Harry becomes angry,
but is quickly subdued by Mr Foster, using the same hypnotic technique
employed earlier on his wife.

The clip begins as Peter sits the
hypnotised Harry in a chair, with Joan asking calmly: “How is your wide Dr
Gerwyn?”. Harry’s voice is flat as he replies: “she’s alright, thank you”.

“That’s better”, says Peter, “please do not
make me do that again, it’s most tiring for me”. He then asks if Harry is
sitting comfortably and tells him to listen very carefully to what he has
to say...

Duration: 32"

Extract 6: From the final scene of the play
(shot on film), set in the hanger which formed the backdrop for the play’s
opening sequence. Gerwyn has forced the Fosters to take him there, having
scratched the hands of the enigmatic couple with the same implement used
earlier on his wife. The storeroom of the hanger contains the only known
antidote for the poison that has been injected into their system, but it
soon becomes clear that the ‘Fosters’ are beyond any medical assistance.

Weakening rapidly, Peter explains to Harry
how he and his ‘wife’ are actually beings from another planet, who had
taken over the bodies and identities of the ‘Fosters’ in a quest to save
their own dying race from extinction.

The clip begins as ‘Peter’ is explaining to
Harry how he and his people have similar bodies and share the same natural
laws, but they do not share the same society. A cut in the clip here omits
several following lines of dialogue, picking up again as Peter is becoming
more breathless, admitting to Gerwyn that he and his race are dying.
Another cut in the clip at this point loses Peter’s revelation that once
they leave their borrowed physical form, the real Fosters will emerge
again. His voice then fades and his eyes close.

The clip resumes just after this moment, as
Gerwyn stands and walks away (assuming the ‘Fosters’ to be dead). At this
point, the ‘real’ Peter Foster re-emerges within his body and his confused
voice calls out. Harry looks over and asks tentatively: “are you… the
same?”

The real Joan also re-emerges and asks:
“What’s happened?” Peter queries whether there has been an accident.

[The clip finishes just before the final
line of dialogue – Harry’s rueful reply “ Yes, Mr Foster. Yes, I suppose
there was an accident.”]

Duration: 45"

TARGET
GENERATION

TX. 18th March 1969

Five audio extracts exist from this
production:

Story
Context: A multi-generational spaceship is nearing its final destination
after 900 years of travel. The inhabitants of the ship have long since
forgotten the meaning and purpose of their existence, but they know that
the ‘end’ will come when they feel the “tremor” (caused by the ship’s
engines slowing down). Only one man in this puritanical, superstitious
community – Jon Hoff (David Buck) – knows that when the tremor occurs he
is to read a set of instructions bequeathed to him by his dying father.
These lead Jon to a sealed and long-forgotten control deck, where he will
come to understand the true nature of the ship and it’s inhabitants...

Extract 1: This begins with a scene inside
the ship as the ‘Tremor” occurs, with people screaming and shouting as the
ship begins to tilt and shudder. This cuts to Jon Hoff and his wife Mary
(Suzan Farmer) in their living quarters, with Mary exclaiming that the
Tremor has begun and that “the End will come swiftly”. Jon is
disbelieving, saying that they do not know that this is the end. Mary is
insistent however, claiming that the falling of the Holy Picture (an
iconic picture of a Tree) from its place on the wall is “a sign”. The clip
ends with a brief cut back to the crowd scenes.

Duration: 31"

Extract 2: Jon’s friend Joe Manx (Ronald
Lacey) has followed Jon to the newly discovered control deck of the ship.
Joe sees the dictionary that Jon has been using to decipher the
instructions for the ship’s navigation and denounces this as blasphemy
(since all reading is strictly forbidden on the ship). Jon attempts to
reason with his old friend, but Joe exits the room in order to denounce
his heresy to the rest of the community. Jon pursues him, calling his
name...

Duration: 45"

Extract 3: A very brief fragment of Jon
talking to his mentor Joshua (Owen Berry). The old man is urging Jon to
say what is on his mind, eliciting Jon’s confession that he has just
killed Joe (to prevent him from revealing the control deck to the others).

Duration: 8"

Extract 4. Having disposed of Joe’s body,
Jon leads Joshua to the hidden control room. The clip begins as Jon is
explaining to the old man how their remote ancestors set the ship on its
course when this room was sealed nine hundred years ago. He goes on to
relate how generations have lived and died on the ship so that the current
inhabitants could reach their destination...

Duration: 11"

Extract 5. An extract from the closing
moments of the play, in which the ship has successfully landed on a
suitable planet. A hatch has opened and light and sound (birdsong etc) has
flooded the control room. Jon and Mary are getting ready to leave and Mary
wonders whether the others will disembark with them.

The clips begins at the point where a taped
voice announces over the PA system how a deadly gas will be released
within the ship within 24 hours (in order to force the inhabitants to
exit).

Jon remarks to Mary that their ancestors
were “one step ahead of them all the time” and had even taken precautions
to ensure that everyone leaves the ship. He takes Mary’s hand and the two
of them begin exiting through the hatch [this would have led into the
closing credits]

Duration: 11"

THE YELLOW PILL

TX. 25th March 1969

A complete audio recording of this episode,
including the opening and closing credit sequences, exists in private
hands (see Introduction).
A cleaned-up transfer of this recording now exists in the BBC’s archives.

Complete Duration: 47'21"

GET OFF
MY CLOUD

TX. 1st April 1969

Five audio extracts exist from this
production.

Story
Context: Pulp SF writer Marsham Craswell (Peter Jeffrey) has suffered a
nervous breakdown through overwork. He now lies in a catatonic state
‘living’ his fantasies rather than writing them, his delirious ravings
noted and recorded by a supervising Psychiatrist (Peter Barkworth). The
Psychiatrist has an extraordinary idea for bringing Craswell back to
reality, involving linking the writer’s subconscious mind to that of
‘down-to-earth’ wily Sports reporter Pete Parnell (Donal Donelly). In
effect, he hopes to introduce a dose of “common-sense reality” that will
undermine and subvert Craswell’s fanciful imaginings.

At the play’s outset, Pete Parnell is
relating a childhood experience to the Psychiatrist, in which an
extraordinary technique was employed by Pete’s father to help counter
recurring nightmares about the Daleks...

Extract 1: The first short clip derives
from the play’s opening ‘flashback’ sequence, shot on 35mm film. In a
remote farmhouse, a young Pete Parnell has been having nightmares about
Daleks appearing in his bedroom at night. His father attempts to empower
Pete by showing him a picture of Colt.45, which he says will ‘enter’ his
dreams whenever Pete needs it. The clip picks up the action at the point
where Pete is having a further nightmare, within which a group of Daleks
enter his bedroom chanting “exterminate, annihilate, destroy” (accompanied
by Herbert Chappell’s electronic incidental music rising to a crescendo).
Pete lifts the gun out of its picture frame and fires five shots in rapid
succession. The Daleks begin screaming as they make a hurried retreat...

Duration: 14"

Extract 2: From telecine sequence 4. Having
been rigged up to bizarre form of encephalograph in a private hospital
ward, the adult Pete Parnell ‘materialises’ in the subconscious fantasy
world of Marsham Craswell. He finds himself in a burning desert with twin
suns blazing down on him. Scornfully facing him is the extraordinary
figure of Craswell, who has re-created himself as “the Mighty Multan”,
laughably adorned in a Pulp-SF ‘gladiator’ costume. Pete takes a diffident
no-nonsense approach and says: “How do you do, Marsham Craswell I
presume?”

This cuts back briefly to scene 6, in which
the ‘real’ Craswell is seen writhing in the hospital bed, moaning at the
sudden mental intrusion: “No, no - go away!”

We cut back to the telecine sequence, with
Parnell quickly adjusting to his new surroundings and mockingly remarking
on Craswell’s bronzed and muscular dreamworld counterpart: “You don’t half
tan quickly don’t you?” he quips, “the last time I saw you, you were as
white as a bed sheet”.

Hurriedly adjusting to the intrusion
himself, Craswell attempts to ‘write’ Parnell in as part of the fantasy,
and asks whether Pete is an “Earthman....?” [He later renames Parnell as
“Nelpar the Mighty” – see extract 5].

Duration: 30"

Extract 3: [From the subsequent telecine
sequence] Finding that he has the power himself to translate his own
thoughts into ‘real’ objects in this imaginary world, Pete conjures up a
Police Phone Box (the TARDIS prop) in order to request help. Nearby,
Craswell is screaming a succession of battle cries and oaths as he
prepares to fight against a hoard of alien creatures.

Pete hurriedly calls his friend the
Sergeant to help deal with Craswell’s fictional demons: “Oh, hullo Sarge,
is that you? Pete Parnell here. Could you get a few of the boys over…”

Irritated by Craswell’s continued ravings,
he rounds on him and shouts: “Keep it down will yer? I can’t hear myself
think!”

He then gets back on to the phone: “What?
Oh we’ve got a bit of trouble on hand…what? Oh, well er…civil disturbance
you might call it. Oh, thanks Sarge, yes, I’ll wait – cheers.”

As he puts the phone down, Craswell ravings
continue: ‘Hear my Battle Cry, death to them all...”

There is a cut in the clip here, with the
action resuming as the Sergeant and a group of Policemen arrive on the
scene to make short work of Craswell’s demonic hoards.
“Oh hullo Sarge”, says Pete with relief, “thanks for coming...”

Craswell is horrified at the anachronism of
London “Bobbies” intruding in his science-fantasy world: “Madness” he
screams...

Duration: 50"

Extract 4: Parnell conjures up a group of
Daleks from his childhood nightmare, promising Craswell (who does not
recognise the fictional creations) that he’ll tell him about them
sometime.

Craswell however, is reluctant to admit
anything that counters his own ‘reality’. Accordingly he denies seeing
them: “Daleks? Daleks? There are no Daleks here...”

Annoyed at his denial, Parnell retorts:
“Oh, don’t be such a sop Craswell, you’re not the only one with
imagination.”

Duration: 10"

Extract 5: Parnell and Craswell have made
their way to their final destination – the throne room of the High
Priestess Garor (Vicki Woolf), the evil nemesis to Craswell’s ‘Mighty
Multan’ and keeper of the “Great Diamond” which they must destroy in order
to complete their quest.

The clip begins as Garor confronts them and
intones that both intruders must die. “I don’t think she’s kidding….”,
says Parnell glibly.

Craswell however, is insistent that they
must complete their objective. “Behind that shield is the hidden diamond”,
he urges, “Nelpar, you must break it down!”